Out of slip :(

[5th Tuition]

Well, the ol' girls sitting in the driveway Jay was kind enough to help me pull 5th Tuition and put her on the trailer. I'm not saying there aren't still some fish above the bridge, but this is the time of year I start trailering south (below Solomon's) for fall fish.
The days are getting a little more dicey, and it will have to be nearly perfect weather for me to tow south Generally, we get one day a week like that, and I already have something else planned for that day
So I'm looking at maybe three or four more trips this year.
It has been a good year. All my fishing buddies have kept the lines of communication open and I have been successful. Thanks to all that share information with me

Who knows what the regulations will be next year, but it sure appears that we will be losing a lot of opportunity to fish. Rumors have us losing 2 weeks in spring, and two weeks in fall. Another month may be shut down due to high water temps, and even the possibility of not allowing fishing for striped bass after 10am.
I'm not trying to start a pissing match about whether all this is needed. Everyone has their own opinions. I'm just sad to see opportunity taken away. Guys farther south had a good year with blues and spanish macks, but north of the bridge is stripers or perch
I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that can trailer south.

I wonder what the "fishing shows" will be like this winter? I certainly don't need parachutes with 9 inch shads for two weeks Normally, around May 1st, I start replacing the 9 inch shads with some 6 inch shads for the smaller males.

It's going to be interesting to see if the charter boats and guides remain with the recreational regulations, or break off to cut a deal with DNR. I can't blame them if they take this action. If I was facing at least a two month restriction, I'd be looking for alternatives

Once again, DNR and the Atlantic Fisheries has dropped the ball. All the fishermen were saying it's more difficult to find fish, and their magic word was SUSTAINABLE. The population was sustainable, all the way up to "it's a crisis"

Oh well, just some thoughts. Try to keep the board alive this winter.
See you all on the water this spring (although now C&R is questionable too)
5th

[B-Faithful]

We all need to advocate strongly for the ASMFC pre approved 1@18" option if we want access to fishing all year...

[Spot77]

I haven't fished enough for the past few years to be overly concerned with the ever-changing maze of rules, but I can certainly understand the frustrations of people who have dropped $100k or more on boats, rods, lures, etc and then get relegated to barely a few weeks of fishing time due to rules and regs, weather, availability, etc.

I know we've talked about it before, but living on Kent Island for the past few years has really emphasized the problem to me; people simply just ignoring the rules. I'm not talking about stretching a 17 3/4" fish.....I've seen hundreds of people keeping every damn 8" and up fish they've caught. Go to Kent Narrows bridge any day of the week; go to the park where NRP berths their two small Whalers. Go to the landing by Bridges restaurant. You'll find buckets of small fish. At Terrapin Park they wade out into the water and put a rock in their buckets to keep them hidden underwater. To my knowledge NRP has rarely, if ever hiked through the park to check people fishing at the beach. Even if they did, they wouldn't wade out into the water in their uniforms to look for underwater buckets. How ridiculous would that be?

Most of these "fishermen" come from northern Virginia, DC or Prince Georges County. For many, their culture simply doesn't recognize the importance of following the rules, and even when the do receive citations, many simply ignore them. Purchasing a license gives them every right to fish wherever legal, but many simply don't bother getting a fishing license.

As noted in another thread, it really blows that Maryland's only solutions to most problems in the state is to further hinder those already following the rules. Counties and other municipalities can sill millions of gallons of raw sewage into the water every year with little or no consequence, but if my hook isn't bent the right way I get into deep ****.

People can fish, catch and keep as many dinks as they want with little or no consequence. But.....but....circle hooks!

Exelon is off the hook for Conowingo dam issues for the next 50 years after signing a $200 million deal with the state (https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/ne...on/2496079001/)


I've fished with a lot of folks on this forum over the years, and I always respect everyone's opinions. I've never fished with a more ethical group of people than this group. There is no single magical answer to improving the sustainability of the fishery.

If Blues, Spanish Macs, and even a verified healthy Tarpon (caught by DNR performing a fish survey at the mouth of the Chester) can find their way above the bridge this year, why was the Rockfish fishing so bad? I did great at my pier most of the year; catching keeper sized Rockfish, Blue Cats, Channel Cats, White Perch, Flounder, Spot and Croaker outside of the "normal" expected times to see them. I was catching Spot on Halloween! (I didn't keep a single fish this year.) Oddly enough, I didn't see a single ray' this year on Eastern Bay. Last year I saw tons of them caught on Romancoke pier.